Sunday, August 26, 2012

One of summer’s greatest gifts is ice cream.I rarely eat ice cream during the rest of the
year, but in the summertime I consume it several times a week.When I was young, my parents used to buy one
gallon tubs or boxes of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, or Neapolitan ice cream.Grocery store ice cream choices have expanded significantly since my childhood, and the exotic flavors that were
only available at ice cream parlors are now sold at grocery and convenience stores across
the country.

I had not made ice cream until a few years ago when my friend Yvonne showed
me her recipe for Thai tea ice cream.Since then I’ve been dreaming of owning an ice cream maker; my wish
recently came true through a gift from a friend.

We inaugurated our new ice cream maker with this refreshing lemon
sorbet.Sorbets are frozen sugar water flavored
with fruit or alcohol.Unlike ice cream,
they do not contain milk, cream, or eggs.Sorbets are sometimes served as a palette cleanser between multi-course
meals; more often they are served as a dessert at the end of a meal.

The word ‘sorbet’ either comes from the Latin sorbetto meaning a mixture of solid and liquid food or the Arabic sharbat meaning drink or juice.There are many stories about the origin of
sorbet.Some claim that it was invented
by Roman Emperor Nero and others suggest that Marco Polo brought back a sorbet
recipe from China.Whatever its origin,
sorbet is an increasingly popular summer treat.

Watch this space for other inventions enabled by our new ice cream
maker!

Ingredients

1 cup fresh lemon juice (approximately 6 lemons)

2 1/2 cups water

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

Directions

1.Juice
the lemons and set aside.

2.In
a medium saucepan, combine 3/4 cup water and all the sugar.Grate the zest of two or three lemons
directly into the mixture.

3.Heat
until the sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently.Remove from the heat and transfer to a glass
dish.Add remaining water and lemon
juice.Mix well.

4.Cover
and cool in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.The colder the mixture, the more likely it
will produce an even texture in the ice cream maker.The mixture may be kept in this state for
several weeks.

5.Prepare
sorbet in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

6.Transfer
the mixture to a freezer-safe container to ripen for several hours.The mixture should still be soft when you do
this; resist the desire to over-churn as it will produce a dry and fluffy texture.Do not serve directly from the
ice cream maker.

7.Serve
as a palette cleanser or dessert.Best
served with other sorbets or topped with a drizzle of limoncello.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

We are well into the
summer wedding season in North America. In
many cultures, weddings are associated with particular foods. In Mexico, a spicy lamb stew called birria is
the centerpiece of the traditional wedding meal. The
English serve fruitcake as their wedding dessert. In Italy, five sugar-covered almonds known as
Italian confetti or Jordan almonds are given to guests as favors. The almonds symbolize happiness,
longevity, health, prosperity, and fertility.

In my community, the traditional wedding dish is beef biryani. The meal is finished with ladoos (sweet
chickpea balls) and gathiya (savory deep fried chickpea dough). In addition to food, sherbet (a rose-flavored
milk drink) is traditionally served at weddings, engagements, and other celebratory events. This sweet beverage is thought to augur a
sweet marriage.
It is easy to make and keeps for several days (without the nut garnish).

Ingredients

6 cups whole milk

1/2 can (7oz)
sweetened condensed milk

2-3 teaspoons rose
water or a few drops of rose essence

2-3 teaspoons vanilla
extract

3-6 drops red food
color

finely chopped almonds
and pistachio for garnish

Directions

1.In a large
pitcher combine the first five ingredients.
Use a long spoon to mix well.
Adjust rose, vanilla, and food color as desired.

MY PROFILE AND EMAIL

Welcome to TREAT A WEEK, which features original recipes from around the world. Although I have a soft spot for dessert and brunch, my recipes cover all meals. I try to bring a cultural and historical perspective to food, and love to feature recipes specific to less known holidays. I hope you will enjoy reading this blog. Please feel free to comment - including questions and constructive criticism.
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Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are the original creation of AKR. All photos by AKR and LPJ. Please do not post or publish without citing. Contact me if you have any questions: treataweek (at) gmail (dot) com.